Incredible 70% reduction in dengue risk!: Natural bacteria infect mosquitoes in urban experiment.

Mosquito Control: An Innovative Approach

A high-level scientific trial has shown that an existing mosquito control method not only reduces their numbers but also cases of dengue fever in the region.

Dengue fever, also known as bone-breaking fever, is a serious mosquito-borne viral infection that can be disabling and life-threatening if contracted more than once.

In Singapore, populations of Aedes aegyptior Nile mosquito, by releasing captive-bred male mosquitoes that carry a bacteria called Wolbachiapresent in many genera of insects.

In this case, the Wolbachia has been modified so that any eggs resulting from breeding with infected mosquitoes are sterile, a technique known as Wolbachia-mediated incompatible insect technique–sterile insect technique (IIT-SIT), according to Medical X Press.

Although IIT-SIT is practiced in different parts of the world, a randomized controlled trial on its effectiveness in controlling or reducing the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases has never been conducted.

The Singapore Institute of Environmental Health, together with some collaborators, selected 15 densely populated areas of the city-state and randomly divided them into groups that would receive a transplanted swarm of IIT-SIT male mosquitoes and others that would receive none.

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Scientists didn’t know which areas had received mosquito releases when they began using traps to capture and estimate the insect population, and national health statistics to look at the number of dengue fever cases over 20 months.

At the end of the study in 2024, the number of mosquitoes recorded inside the traps located in the areas where the infected males were released Wolbachia was reduced by 77%. Of the residents who tested positive for dengue fever, 21% were found in the control areas, while only 6% were found in the study areas, a transmission reduction of approximately 71%.

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The study is the first scientifically robust evidence that IIT-SIT with Wolbachia It is effective in controlling both dengue and the mosquitoes that transmit it; invaluable while the world is experiencing a kind of dengue explosion.

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Alonso Delgado covers the international news with rigor. You’ll find accurate and relevant reporting on major global events, from political crises to diplomatic breakthroughs.